No Americans Left In Australian Open

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Serena Williams lost in one of the biggest upsets of this year’s Australian Open.  Her loss leaves the tournament without any players, man or woman, left in the quarterfinals.  Williams, a five-time champion, was beaten in straight sets by unseeded Ekaterina Makarova.  Serena was her own worst enemy, as she made 37 unforced errors and had an unbelievable 7 double-faults.

Makarova will face Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.   Sharapova edged past Sabine Lisicki in 3 sets to advance.  Joining them in the bottom half of the round of 8 are Sara Errani, of Italy, and Petra Kvitova, the No. 2 seed from Russia.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated Jelena Jankovic to advance to a showdown with Kim Clijsters, who rallied to beat Na Li.  Victoria Azarenka (3), who has stormed through the first 3 rounds will face the wily Agnieszka Raswanska (8).

For the men, top seed Novak Djokovic faced his toughest opponent yet, needing 4 sets to defeat Lleyton Hewitt to advance to the quarterfinals.  It is the 18th straight Grand Slam match win for the World Number 1 player.  Djokovic will face David Ferrer (5), who defeated Richard Gasquet in straight sets.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals is Andy Murray (4).  It is Murray’s 11th trip to the quarters in the last 15 Grand Slams.  Murray will face Kei Nishikori (24).  Nishikori defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to become the 1st Japanese man to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in the Open Era.  

Rafael Nadal (2) easily advanced over Feliciano Lopez and will face Tomas Berdych (7).  Berdych needed 4 sets to defeat Nicolas Almagro (10) in a match where Berdych refused to shake hands with Almagro after Berdych was hit by a ball.

Roger Federer (3) will face Juan Martin Del Potro after both men easily got past the round of 16.